The Film Team
Ben Knight
Director
Ben Knight grew up in rural North Carolina and left home at 17 after just barely passing his GED exam. Knight pointed his camera and a reasonably reliable Oldsmobile due west in 1996. He spent 28 years in Colorado, 19 of them in Telluride where an annual film festival called Mountainfilm inspired him to leave photojournalism for filmmaking.
Now, at 46, Knight has won more than 70 film festival awards for shorts and features. He was nominated for National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year for his 2014 documentary DamNation. His 2019 film The Last Honey Hunter was qualified for a Short Documentary Oscar and his most recent film Learning to Drown premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC.
Berne Broudy
Co-Director & Producer
Berne Broudy is a journalist, filmmaker, and trail volunteer whose work breaks boundaries—physical, cultural, and societal. A lifelong adventurer and storyteller, she brings a deep connection to the outdoors and a fierce commitment to social justice.
Based in Vermont, Berne is the co-founder and president of Richmond Mountain Trails, the grassroots organization behind the world’s first fully adaptive mountain bike trail network. As a visionary and coordinator for the Driving Range trail system, she helped raise over $350,000 and mobilize more than 200 volunteers. She also moved rocks, flagged trail, and grilled more than 2,000 hot dogs for volunteers.
Berne also currently serves on the boards of Vermont Huts and Trails and the Vermont Mountain Bike Association, and is fundraising to help trail clubs across the U.S. expand access to adaptive recreation. An avid rider and backcountry skier, she spends as much time as possible outdoors, challenging limits—and reimagining what's possible.
Allie Bianchi
Adaptive aThlete
Richmond, Vermont native Allie Bianchi has always been an avid outdoorswoman who loves spending time in the mountains. In August 2022, as she was entering her second year of teaching second-grade special education, Allie broke her neck at the C5 C6 level in a mountain biking accident. Since then she has been working hard to get back to the mountains she loves.
In the last year, Allie has resumed skiing and biking. She recently purchased an adaptive mountain bike with a grant from The Kelly Brush Foundation. "Adaptive sports equipment and the Kelly Brush Foundation has made it possible for me to find new ways to do the things I've always loved with both old friends and new ones!" said Allie. "I feel so supported by the community to accomplish my goals."
Executive Producers
Kelly Brush FOundation
Kelson Foundation
P. Alexander Graham
Greg Durso
Adaptive aThlete & Associate Producer
Greg Durso grew up on Long Island playing soccer, skiing, boating, and wakeboarding. In 2009, he suffered a spinal cord injury bailing off a plastic sled at a ski area and landing on a stump, and became paralyzed from the chest down. He bought a beginner handcycle as soon as he got out of the hospital, and biked 20 miles with Kelly Brush, founder of the Kelly Brush Foundation.
Today, Durso works as program director for the Kelly Brush Foundation and awards equipment grants to individuals with spinal cord injuries. "That ride was my first goal post injury," said Durso. "I accomplished it and never looked back. Having disability-friendly equipment and recreation infrastructure helped me thrive after my injury. It's my life's work to grow access to both.” Durso is an adaptive mountain bike instructor. He competed in the MTB U.S. Open in September 2024.